Knödelhütte - Peterer Riegel (by grazing fence)

Access to starting point:
We leave the Highway A2 Klagenfurt - Graz at the Packsattel exit. When near the pass we reach the old Klagenfurt - Graz road and turn left; shortly after at the pass, we turn left again toward the Knödelhütte cottage. This is followed by driving on a slightly narrower asphalt road. A little higher, the road splits, and we continue on the right macadam road, beside which there is a gate. To continue driving, it is necessary to pay a fee of 2 euros (July 2023); then, on the macadam road, we reach the Knödelhütte cottage, where we park.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we first walk to the cottage, then cross a grazing fence onto the path toward the cottage Bernsteinhütte, saddle Peterer Sattel, and pass Salzstiegel. At first, we gently ascend through the pasture, then the path enters the forest, where it remains gentle. Further on at a few smaller junctions, we follow the blazes, and when we reach a marked junction, we go straight in the direction of the saddle Peterer Sattel (slightly right, the mountain hut Bernsteinhütte). Only a little further, we reach the next junction, where we also continue straight (left, the mountain hut Unterauerlinger Hütte, and right, the mountain hut Bernsteinhütte).
Next follows the crossing of a grazing fence, and we bypass the mountain hut Bernsteinhütte on the left side. Next follows a moderate ascent by the edge of the grazing area, and the path, a little higher, splits once again.
To the left leads the path towards the mountain huts Görlitzerhütte and Schrotthütte, and we continue straight, where, a few minutes higher, we leave the sparse forest. Next follows a fairly uniform moderate ascent on a panoramic grassy ridge, and when the path flattens, on the right side, only three minutes from the path, we notice a cross on the south summit of Hirschegger Alm. The marked path bypasses the mentioned peak on the left side, and we quickly descend to the nearby saddle, where there is a marked junction.
From the saddle, we continue straight along the grazing fence (left mountain hut Görlitzerhütte, right mountain hut Sauerishütte and the peak Seinerkreuz) and again start ascending. A little higher, another path branches off to the right towards the mountain hut Sauerishütte, while we continue in the same direction, ascending along a panoramic grassy ridge. Higher up, the ridge flattens, and we follow the path for a few more minutes to the indistinct northern peak of Hirschegger Alm.
This is followed by a short descent, after which a marked path from the village of Hirschegg joins us from the right.
We continue straight and bypass the peak St. Leonharder Alm on its right (northeastern) side, continuing without major changes in elevation. A little further on, we pass a water trough; shortly after the traversing ends, we reach a junction on the saddle between the previously mentioned peak and Peterer Riegel.
Here we first continue slightly left in the direction of the mountain hut Petererhütte (slightly right Peterer Sattel), after crossing the grazing fence, when the marked path to the aforementioned hut turns slightly left, we continue straight onto an unmarked path, following the grazing fence that continues northwest. Further on, we initially ascend gently along the left side of the fence; when a passage opens to the right side, we cross to the right. On the other side of the fence, a gentler path branches off slightly to the right, but we continue along the grazing fence and begin to ascend ever more steeply. We follow this steep path all the way to the panoramic summit with a cross.
Knödelhütte – Bernsteinhütte 0:45, Bernsteinhütte – south peak Hirschegger Alm 0:50, south peak Hirschegger Alm – northern peak Hirschegger Alm 0:50, northern peak Hirschegger Alm – Peterer Riegel 1:20.
The description and pictures refer to the condition in July 2023.

On the way: Bernsteinhütte (1559m), Hirschegger Alm (južni vrh) (1767m), Hirschegger Alm (severni vrh) (1871m)